ArticleNature communications2025
Pol θ-mediated end-joining uses microhomologies containing mismatches.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Beyond Short Microhomologies: Mismatch-Compatible Pol θ-Mediated DNA Damage Repair.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Dynamic Assemblies in Genome Maintenance.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Coordinated transfer of DNA between Pol θ and Pol δ resets microhomology choice during double-strand break repair.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
DNA polymerase theta (Pol θ) initiates repair of DNA double-strand breaks by pairing single strands at short "microhomologies". It is important to understand microhomology selection, as some cancer cells rely on Pol θ for survival. Here, we investigate end-joining by purified human Pol θ, employing DNA sequencing of products generated from oligonucleotide libraries having diverse 3' ends. Pol θ overwhelmingly selects short internal microhomologies found within 15 nucleotides of the terminus of single-stranded DNAs, restricting deletion size during end-joining. Significantly, we find that the selected microhomologies are usually interrupted by mismatches and that base pairing within 6 nucleotides of the 3' end is important for determining microhomology choice. Bidirectional synthesis is not necessary to initiate end-joining. The preference for mismatched microhomologies suggests a revision of the definition of microhomology to account for the unique properties of Pol θ. This could advance the analysis of mutations in cancer genomes.
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Registered trials
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